


What Doesn’t Kill You

by majorhtom



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Amputee, Brain Damage, Canon Disabled Character, Cerebral Palsy, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Disabled Character, Disabled Character of Color, Gen, Implied/Referenced Death in Childbirth, Lucky the one eyed pizza dog, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Paralysis, Wheelchairs, creative ways of taking down a fascist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2020-03-17 12:06:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18964897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majorhtom/pseuds/majorhtom
Summary: The Avengers face up against their biggest enemies; boredom and ableism.AU, particularly inspired by the 616 and 199999 (MCU) universes. Loosely linked one-shots.





	1. Daughter

Everything was quiet at the Avengers Mansion. Steve, Tony, Sam, Bucky, Clint and Natasha were all downstairs in the armoury. Rhodey, Sam, Jen and Kate were in the pool. Carol, Jess, Bruce and Kamala were in the Snoezelen. Everyone else was either in the dining hall or their rooms, including Jan. who was in her room, sitting at her desk, deep in thought as she worked on designing a new shirt. 

A knock on the door soon disturbed her from her thoughts and plans. 

“Yeah!” She shouted. 

The door opened and Jan turned her wheelchair around to see the Avengers’ butler, Jarvis, standing in her doorway. 

“Pardon me, Mrs Van Dyne, but there’s a young girl here, looking for Mr Pym.” Jarvis explained. “I thought I would take her to you.” 

“Thanks Jarvis.” Jan said. “She... does she have a-a name?” 

“She says her name is Nadia.” Jarvis said. “She gave no last name. But she claims to be Mr Pym’s daughter. I don’t believe she is here for malicious purposes; Dr Strange has already vetted her.” 

Jan nodded. “She... let her in.” 

Jarvis nodded and moved to one side, letting in a short, excitable, brown haired teenage girl. He closed the door and walked away.

“Hello!” The girl chirped happily. “Jarvis told me you’re married to my father.” She talked with a thick Russian accent.

“Um... I was ma-married to... your father.” Jan said. In contrast to the girl’s rapid speech, Jan’s was slow and slurred. 

The girl furrowed her brow. “You are divorced?” 

“Hank... die-d.” Jan said. “He was kill-ed by Ultron. His crea...tion.” 

The girl’s face fell. “Oh.” 

“Jarvis... said you are his da-daugh-ter.” Jan said. “I get what... it’s like. My mom... died in chi-child... birth. With me.” She tapped at her chest. “Dad... die-d too. I’m a-lone.” 

“You never knew your mother?” 

Jan shook her head. “I know what Da-ddy told me. Same name. Jan-et.” 

“Your name’s Janet.” 

“Jan-et Van... Dyne.” She said with a nod. 

“I’m Nadia, um, Pym, I suppose.” She offered her hand to Jan. 

Jan raised her hand, which was stiff and almost fisted because of contractures. “Can’t shake.” 

Nadia looked at Jan’s hand. “Oh.” She lowered her hand slowly and rubbed it on her thigh, taking notice of the pill bottles on the shelves. “What... what’s, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what exactly is wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” Jan said simply. “I’m di-sabled. Most A...vengers are. None of them... are like me.” 

“What do you mean?” Nadia asked. 

“I have Ce-Cere-bral Palsy.” Jan said. “It’s why... I don’t speak. Well. And have a wheel-chair. And my hands look... like this.”

Nadia cocked her head slightly. “And you’re an Avenger?”

“ _Founding_ A-Avenger.” Jan corrected. 

“How?” 

Jan laughed. “I have my sec-rets.” 

The room fell silent until Nadia sighed. “So what do I do now?” 

“How old?” Jan asked. 

“Fourteen.” Nadia answered. 

“Stay here.” 

“What?” 

“Hank was your dad.” Jan said. “That makes me... your _step-mom_.” 

“Step-mom.” Nadia nodded. “I have a step-mom.” 

“You can call me Jan... I-if you want.” 

“I’ve never had a parent before.” Nadia said. 

“I ne-ver had a kid be...fore.” Jan said. “But we-we can figure it out.”

“Together?” Nadia asked. 

Jan nodded. “To-together.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on Janet Van Dyne. I had hoped to open this AU up with ‘Lucky’, but inspiration had different plans.  
> I changed some things up about Jan’s backstory. In canon, we don’t know a thing about her mother, not even her name. So in this AU, Jan was named after her mother, who died in childbirth and her father was not murdered by aliens (and was vowed not to be forgotten about and avenged only to be promptly forgotten about and un-avenged), but he simply died. Also, Hank did not hit Jan, they were happily married until Ultron.   
> Jan has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and how this affects her superheroics will be dealt with.


	2. Lucky

Clint walked into the dining room of the Avengers Mansion and handed a note to Kate, who was sitting at a table, eating a peanut butter sandwich. 

Kate looked down at the note. “You got a dog.” 

“Yeah, I got a dog.” Clint said. “His name’s Lucky. Rescued him from the Russian Mafia.” 

“That explains the black eye.”

“And the gunshot wounds.” 

Kate put her sandwich down. “Jesus, Clint, you were _shot_?” 

“I just said I’d been shot.” Clint frowned. “Didn’t I?”

Kate picked up a nearby pen and flipped over the note Clint had handed her to scribble something down. 

**GO TO THE HOSPITAL, IDIOT**

“See, no, I’m not going to do that, it’s not like that time I fell off a building-“

“You’ve fallen off _more_ than one building, Clint.” 

“But nothing’s broken this time, Kate.” 

_You were shot_. Kate signed. 

“Like here.” Clint pointed to his upper arm. 

Kate shook her head in exasperation. 

“So do you want to see the dog?” Clint asked. 

Kate stood up, leaned forward and slapped Clint on the arm. “You’re a jackass.” 

Clint grunted in pain. “That’s where I was shot, you know!” 

Kate tapped the paper, aggressively. 

**GO TO THE HOSPITAL, IDIOT**

“I’ll go to medical in a minute. But you need to see the dog first.” Clint hurried away from the table and once he was almost out of the room, turned back to see where Kate was. 

Kate pointed to her leg braces and shrugged. 

“That’s... fair.” Clint nodded. 

_You know my legs are bad_. Kate signed as she walked over to him.

_Sometimes I forget_. Clint signed sheepishly. 

_I never forget you’re deaf_. Kate signed. She stood toe to toe with Clint and folded her arms defiantly.

“You do.” Clint said, turning away from her and began to walk down the hall.

Kate shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. She followed him. “So I don’t know every word in sign language.”

“What?” Clint asked. “Didn’t quite... hear.” 

“I don’t know every word in sign language.” Kate repeated, in the same tone. She knew Clint hated people raising their voices and talking slowly to him because he wore hearing aids. He had a few issues with it, but the main one was that it was condescending. 

Clint shrugged. “Who does, really.” 

“You should.” Kate said. “You’ve been signing for years.” 

Clint turned around to Kate. _But do you know every word in English?_  

Kate blinked, slightly taken aback by the question. Then she shook her head. 

“There you go.” Clint said. 

_Where the dog._ Kate signed. 

_My room._ Clint signed back. _Cap would hate if he was free_. 

Clint, Nat and Maya had name signs for everyone, codename included. Steve’s name sign was different to his codename sign, which was a circle traced with the finger, a fist with the hand and moving the arm away from the body, as if holding Captain America’s shield. 

Kate just shrugged. _I don’t know._ She signed, looking over at Clint. _He might like dogs._

_Of course he likes dogs. He’s Cap._  Clint signed with a chuckle. _I just meant with the bird and the cat._

“Menagerie.” Kate said. 

“What?” Clint asked. 

_M-E-N-A-G-E-R-I-E_. Kate finger spelled. “Sorry, I don’t know the sign for that.” 

“Neither do I.” Clint admitted. “Is there even a sign for it?” He stopped outside his room. “What do dogs eat because I’ve been feeding him pizza.” 

Kate blinked. “Not pizza.” 

Clint simply shrugged and opened the door.

Lying bandaged up on the floor was what appeared to be a Labrador looking very sorry for himself. 

“Oh my god, Clint.” Kate rushed over to him, well, as fast as she could move anyway. “I love him.” She carefully knelt down to pet him.

“Well he’s _my_ dog.” Clint said. “I sto- _rescued_ him from the Russian Mafia Bros.” 

“The dickheads who deafened you?” Kate asked, pointing to her ears.

“Yeah, _that_ Russian Mafia.” Clint confirmed. 

“What if they want their dog back?” Kate scratched Lucky behind the ear. 

“I’ll get Scott to crawl up Ivan’s ass and explode him from the inside.” Clint said

Kate snickered. _Clint, seriously_. She signed.

“Well, we’re twenty-odd superheroes if we all get together.” Clint said. “What’s the worst they’re going to do?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clint is deaf and Kate... well you’ll probably find out what’s up with her later.  
> By now you probably sense a theme emerging. It’s exactly what you think it is.  
> The Scott and the ass comment is a reference to the jokey Endgame theories. You know, those ones that HISHE will probably do for their HISHE Endgame video. And if I’m right about that, no, I’m not a time traveller.  
> To clarify something about the sign language, it’s in italic because it’s what I mean to say. I ‘speak’ BSL (surprise, I’m British!), not ASL. There’s going to be grammatical differences so I don’t want to write in sign language because it’ll be in BSL rather than ASL and since the characters are American, I don’t want it to feel disingenuous. Name signs are common in BSL among friends and family and are usually personalised. I’m not sure if they exist in ASL, but I left it in anyway.


	3. Hail Hydra!

“Hail Hydra!” A Hydra Soldier shouted as he threw his fists in the air. 

Clint pulled an arrow back against the bowstring and loosed it-it went in the Hydra soldier’s eye. “Not today.” 

Another Hydra soldier approached Steve from behind.

Steve grabbed his shield from the back of his wheelchair and slammed it right where he thought the Hydra soldier’s nuts were. When he turned around, he realised he was right and slammed his shield into his head. He also realised something else. 

“I got eyes on the Red Skull!” He said. “He’s on the second floor-and I think he’s got a Cosmic Cube.” 

“See him. On it, Cap.” Jan flew up and followed the Skull. 

“Falcon, how’s it going outside?” Steve asked, hitting another Hydra soldier in the face. 

Outside, Sam and Jess were fighting more Nazi soldiers. 

“It’s going okay, Cap, nothing we can’t handle.” Sam said as he kicked a Hydra soldier in the face. 

“You worry about the Skull. We’re all set-“ Jess began.

“Hail Hydra!” 

“No chance.” Jess shot a venom blast at the Hydra soldier, sending him down to the ground in pain. While he was down, she kicked him in his face. “We’re all good here, Cap.” 

Inside, Jan struggled to keep up with the Red Skull. She knew she couldn’t rest on him and wait to pounce like Hank would have done; she simply didn’t have the arm strength for that. Or the leg strength for standing. She had to fly and keep up. But she also had to slow the Skull down. 

“Hawkeye.” She said over the comms. “Arrow. Slow him down.” 

“Hawkeye!” Steve got Clint’s attention by shouting his name and signing his name. 

“Yeah!” Clint pulled an arrow from a Hydra soldier’s shoulder. 

Steve mimed shooting an arrow. 

Clint nodded, understanding what Steve was trying to say and selected an arrow from his quiver. He notched it on the string and pulled it back, aiming for where the Red Skull would be and released it. 

“You missed!” Steve shouted. No sooner had he punched another Hydra goon in his face, the arrow exploded into a cloud of smoke. 

“Smoke arrow.” Clint smiled. The injured Hydra goon tried to get up, so he simply pulled a normal arrow from his quiver and stabbed the Hydra goon with it. 

The thick smoke from the smoke arrow slowed down the Red Skull enough for Jan to catch up. When she did, she fired her bioelectric blast at him, shocking him. He almost dropped the cube. 

The Red Skull looked around, but saw nothing but smoke. Not that he would have been able to see a shrunken down Janet Van Dyne anyway. 

Jan couldn’t punch. But hitting was just as good. So she used all her strength to hit the Skull in his face. 

_Up. Go help_. Steve signed to Clint. 

Clint saluted Steve and ran to help Jan. 

“Give me some good news, Falcon.” Steve said. 

“Outside’s all clear here, Cap.” Sam said. “Need us to come in?” 

“Falcon, you stay a lookout, Wasp’s fighting the Red Skull.”

“Alone?” Jess asked.

“Hawkeye’s gone to help.” Steve said. “I need backup down here.”

“On my way, Cap.” Jess said. 

Inside, Jan was thinking out how she could stop the Red Skull from getting away. She pulled a face, knowing what would immediately stop him dead in his tracks, but it had to be done. So she flew lower and hit his nuts with her bioelectric blasts. 

The Red Skull dropped to his knees, presumably in pain. 

Jan flew lower still and shocked him again. And again. And again as the smoke dispersed. A final shock and he dropped the Cosmic Cube. She flew up to his eye, waved and hit him, shocking him right in the eyeball. She flew down to the floor, grew to full size and picked up the Cosmic Cube, holding it as close to her as she could without proper use of her fingers. 

The Red Skull glared at her, sitting down with her poor balance (actually just poor muscle tone) and tried to take the Cosmic Cube from her. 

Jan hit him in the chest in retaliation. “Don’t.” She said, glaring at him. 

Clint reached the top floor and saw the Red Skull bent over Jan. He drew an arrow from his quiver and notched it onto the string, pulled back and; “Hey, Skull!”

The Red Skull turned to look at Clint.

Clint, released the arrow, which went right through the Red Skull’s shoulder. 

Janet shuffled over, put her hand on the Red Skull and sent a powerful jolt of bioelectricity into his body, sending him back down to the ground. 

Clint quickly notched another arrow, a net arrow, which tied the Red Skull up.

“Cap!” Jan said. “Call Fury. We have the... the Sku-ull.”

“You have the-“ Jess looked up. “Oh wow.” 

“Great job, guys.” Steve said. 

Sam walked inside. “So what’d I miss?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of fun taking down the Red Skull.   
> Steve. His backstory follows that of the comics. He tried to disarm a plane bomb with Bucky and lost his grip, falling into the icy cold ocean. Only he when he fell, he broke his back and was unable to get himself out of the ocean, which lead to him being trapped in ice for almost seventy years. He was defrosted by the early Avengers and woke up paralysed from the waist down. Undeterred, he adapted, both to 21st century life and to his disability, and carried on as Captain America.   
> Sam. His backstory closer follows that of his MCU counterpart.   
> And Jess. Her backstory is almost the same as her comics counterpart.


	4. Anniversary

Sharon was in the dining room, going over some SHIELD paperwork. She was reading a recently closed case file about the Red Skull-Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye I, Spider-Woman and Wasp had thankfully managed to put a stop to his plans. 

Steve wheeled himself over to Sharon. “Hey, Shar.” He greeted. “What are you reading?” 

“I can’t actually tell you because of your security clearance.” Sharon said. “But, I’m reading about your last mission to take down the Red Skull.” 

“Ah that was all Clint and Jan.” Steve said. “I didn’t do much.”

“Brave _and_ humble.” Sharon lowered the report. “You’re a good one, Steve.” 

“You know what today is, don’t you?” Steve asked. 

“Sure do.” Sharon said. “It’s Thursday.” 

“It’s actually our anniversary.” Steve said. “Our sixth.” 

“Six years. Already?” Sharon frowned slightly. Surely Steve was wrong about that.

“Yeah, already.” Steve confirmed. “I can’t believe it either.”

“So it’s been eight years since you were pulled from the ice.” Sharon said. “Ten since the Avengers were founded. Thirteen since I joined SHIELD. It just goes by so fast.” 

“Try being _me_. Closed my eyes and it was 1945. Opened them and it’s 2011.” Steve said. “Still wondering where the hell the flying cars, aliens and robots are. I mean, besides Vizh and Ultron.” 

“So have you got anything planned for tonight?” Sharon asked. “Romantically, I mean.”

Steve shook his head. “I’ve been a bit busy with Hydra and the Red Skull lately to book a fancy restaurant.”

“I suppose we could get a take away and watch a rom com on the TV-“

“Carol’s watching Star Wars with a few others.” 

“Oh.” Sharon said. “You have a TV in your room though?”

Steve nodded. “Yep.”

“Netflix?” Sharon asked.

“Yep.” Steve said. “Netflix and chill?”

Sharon blinked. “Well, I had no idea you were that... clued up on modern slang.”

“It’s hard not to when you’re around dozens of young people who don’t live in the 40s.” Steve said. “Pretty sure even _Bucky’s_ picked up on the slang by now and he’s only been around for three years. Almost three years.”

“It’s been wild, that’s for sure.” Sharon said. 

“I don’t think ‘wild’ even begins to cover it.” Steve said. 

“No. You’re right.” Sharon said. “Netflix and chill it is.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Sharon Carter. The love of Steve Rogers’ life, how could I not include her?  
> Sharon’s story is to be revealed another time, but she’s been with Steve for just over half a decade now and she is both a SHIELD Agent and an Avenger.
> 
> (My maths might be just a little dodgy.)


	5. Anti-Valentine’s Day

One look at the date and Scott groaned. He hated Valentine’s Day with a passion. It reminded him too much of his ex-wife, Peggy. Who didn’t like him very much. 

Janet hated Valentine’s Day too, but for a different reason. It reminded her too much of her husband, Hank. That she was a widow. And that it was her first one without him.

While the couples were celebrating with each other (Steve and Sharon, Rhodey and Carol, Wanda and Vision, Peter and MJ, Stephen and Clea, T’Challa and Ororo, Nat and Bucky...), Scott and Jan felt left out. Very left out. 

“Hey, Jan.” Scott greeted sourly as he walked down the hall. 

“Oh. Someone’s... not in a good mood.” Jan said. “Let me guess. Valen-Valentine’s Day.” 

Scott groaned. “Don’t remind me.” 

“You’re just... _divorced_.” Jan pointed out. “I was married too. Hank died. He had to create... that _stupid_ Ultron.”

“I’m so sorry, Jan.” Scott said sincerely. Wallowing in his own self pity almost made him forget  that Jan was alone. That his own mentor had died. 

“It’s...” Jan sighed. “It’s done now.” 

“You miss him.” Scott said. 

“I miss him.” Jan nodded. “He was the first man who... who looked beyond my-my disability.” She explained. “Not many guys... want to _date_ women using wheelchairs. Especially not mo- _motorised_ wheelchairs.” 

“Well, you know what, Jan? You’re funny, you’re kind-you’re an incredibly talented fashion designer and you’re a brilliant engineer. You’re fluent in like six different languages and you know the language of the Microverse. You singlehandedly took down the Red Skull.” Scott listed. “Jan, the _Red Skull_! You’re amazing. Any man would be _lucky_ to have you. And Hank _was_ lucky because he _did_ have you.”

“Scott Lang, are you co-coming onto me?” Jan asked with a wry smile. 

Scott was taken aback. “What?”

“I’m just teasing.” Jan said. 

“Oh.” Scott said. “I guess I’m just not in the mood. Everyone’s all loved up and I hate it.” 

“I just saw Steve make-making out wi... with Sharon.” Jan said.

“Isn’t Captain America supposed to be the paragon of like... American purity or some shit?” Scott asked. 

“I’ve known Steve for years.” Jan said. “He...’s not as pure as he-as he makes out. Han-k told me... things.” 

“So are you doing anything to remember Hank today?” Scott asked.

Jan shook her head. “But I’m going to-to see a... movie. With my daugh... daughter later.” 

Scott raised an eyebrow. “Daughter?” 

“Nad-ia.” Jan said. “Step-daugh-ter. She took my name. I’m adopt...ing her.”

“Congratulations, Jan.” Scott said. 

“What about... Cass-ie?” Jan asked. 

“What about her?” 

“They’re the same age.” Jan said. “Nad-ia needs... she needs friends.” 

“What about you?” Scott asked. 

“I have friends.” Jan said. “You. You’re my.... my friend.” 

“Yeah.” Scott nodded. 

“And-and Cap. Tony. Jess. Jen. Peter.” Jan said. “We have lots-lots of friends.” 

“Yeah.” 

“And friends... friends are good.” Jan said. “Be...tter than-than-“

“Romance?” Scott offered. 

“Yep.” Jan said with a nod. “Romance is good. Friendship... is better.” 

“Then how would you like to go and see a movie with me-as a friend, of course?” Scott asked. 

Jan smiled. “I’d love to.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it’s a bit late for Valentine’s Day.   
> No, this isn’t the start of a relationship between Janet and Scott.


End file.
